A Chinese Elahrairah Tale
by Samkin-lone-Senshi
Summary: On a nice day, a new rabbit to the warren decides to tell a story from his country of China, a story that has never been heard or told by anyone in Hazel's warren


This is my first time doing a story for Watership Down. The characters aren't mine, the only one that is, is Chinsho. I will have other Chinese and Japanese tales told or made up by the Chinsho next time. Please enjoy the story.  
  
A Chinese Tale of El-ahrairah  
  
It was an early summer morning when Silver had heard the tale relayed to him by a strange rabbit from the East, at least that was what he claimed. The rabbit had lived in the orient, but was now a member of the warren. Chinsho as he was referred to by many of the does and bucks, was a rather small rabbit with dark brown fur and deep sad eyes.  
  
"I will tell this story, for I think it is to be honored as one of El- ahrairah's finest moments. We rabbits of the East have a different name for him, but in all it means the same to you and to us all," smiled Chinsho happily as he decided to tell the story outside.  
  
"Long ago, before Firth made all the animals different, he wanted to name the years and so he decided to hold a race. Firth picked his most loved creations in this, the rat, the ox, the monkey, the tiger, the dog, a dragon, the sheep, the horse and the pig, but not forgetting the rabbits. The cat was included in this, but the rat being a dishonest beast far more than any tricked him out of the race.  
  
"Firth decided that the years would be set by how the animals decided. El- ahrairah stood up and was the first to speak at this meeting, 'My friends, we come long and far for this decision and I say that since Tiger came the longest we should have her first,' he smiled at the Tiger who just stared at him.  
  
"Tigers are sensible beasts and are often quite thoughtful, she just twitched her tail and then smiled softly. 'We shall have a race to see who comes first, then we will have Firth be the one to tell us who the winner is.'  
  
"The dog who is usually the most loyal to man and seemed to agree with the tiger nodded, 'Yes we will let Firth decide who is going to come in first. But how do we set about this race, my friends?' He looked over a lake and smiled. 'Lin, my friend, my great and powerful tiger, we will have a swim, whoever makes it to the other side first is the winner.'  
  
"El-ahrairah did not like this idea, he was not a great swimmer, but the one who was equally concerned was the rat. 'I must confess that this is not a good plan, dear friend," said the cat that was quietly looking at the rat and El-ahrairah. 'The rabbit prince we all know is not a worthy swimmer and the rat we know shall surely drown by this.'  
  
"Rat nodded his whiskers twitching a little looking at El-ahrairah. 'Yes, we should think of something else, lest we want this a fair match, don't we, prince rabbit?'  
  
"'Fair enough, rat, fair enough. I do agree, I am not a good swimmer, but I would rather swim than run. China during this time of year is frightfully hot, we should keep it wet.' El-ahrairah said and looked at Dog who was smiling.  
  
"'Then it is set, all of us shall meet when the cherry blossoms are in bloom,' said Lin, the tiger who smiled and bowed a little as she went off to her forest.  
  
"The cat came to the rat and asked quite sweetly. 'When will the cherry blossoms be in bloom, dear friend?'  
  
"El-ahrairah was about to answer when the rat chirped that it would be in two days, which was a lie. The rabbit stared in shock as his friend the rat lied to his friend the cat. He watched as the cat walked off and whispered, 'Dear friend, that is a lie, I will tell Firth that you tricked the cat.'  
  
"'Dear, prince you hardly understand this cat, cats cannot tell days, they cannot see the color in the sky. After all, there is a reason why we are so clever, El-ahrairah, my friend.'  
  
Silver stopped the story and blinked. "El-ahrairah did not believe this did he?"  
  
"Of course he did," Chinsho sighed. "Rats are tricksters that even us rabbits are not good with. Anyway, where was I?"  
  
"The day of the race arrived in a day, the first to arrive was the Ox who would have gotten lost if he had not stayed put, then came the dog. Dragon and rat arrived so after, El-ahriarah arrived with the pig, rooster, horse, and sheep. They spoke of the great race and how much fun it was going to be.  
  
"'Dear rabbit, you are the one who deserves to be first, I say,' said the pig who was rather lazy. 'I don't take to running, neither does the rat.'  
  
"Firth soon arrived and said to all the animals. 'The course has been set, and all of you are ready!'  
  
"The race began with the El-ahrairah in the lead, with the rat close behind him. 'It is good that stupid old cat did not come,' the rat laughed as he ran by.  
  
"'Rat, I'm sorry, but I think your trick was unfair to the cat, I would have much rather he was in the race with us,' El-ahrairah yelled as suddenly horse ran in front of them.  
  
"Coming the lake, rat waited until Ox who was now in the lead was in the water, he jumped onto his head and went across the lake. The Ox completely forgot that rat was on his head and just as he neared the finish line, rat jumped off and ran ahead of everyone else winning the race."  
  
Silver blinked. "What order did they come in?"  
  
Chinsho blinked and smiled. "I'm coming to that, don't worry."  
  
"The animals that came in next after the Ox and the rat were Tiger, El- ahrairah, Dragon, Snake, who decided it was just for fun, Horse, sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar. To this day, that is how my people name their years."  
  
"So did the rat get his punishment?" Silver asked hopefully.  
  
"Yes, Firth heard from El-ahrairah about the unfair trick rat had played and Firth decided to give each animal a virtue. 'To the rat who came in first, you are going to be mischievous, but also a perfectionist. Though you did not display those virtues of kindness that your fellow rats bestow on others, your punishment is that as long as a cat is around, you must fear him.'  
  
"He went down the line of the animals and smiled. 'All of you are wonderful creatures and I have each of you a gift. To ox, you are a traditional creature and a strong well, how else were going to win second place and you are a leader.'  
  
"Firth smiled at Tiger who was standing proudly. 'Lin, you old friend, you are very thoughtful and strong inside, I thank you for your suggestion of this race, your gift is your mind and your playful nature. Then I come to you dear Rabbit prince, your honesty to cat was admirable and I will grant you this you are a risk taker and creative, never let that down, prince rabbit.'  
  
"El-ahrairah beamed from that and bowed. 'Dear Lord Firth, you are truly a great friend, please give my dear friends great prizes.'  
  
"Firth nodded and went up to Dragon and Snake. 'I see your brother, Dragon has come to join us. Dragon, you are a strong and cautious friend, but you are also going to be good with challenges. Then Snake, since you were not invited to this race, I will say this, you have your own style and grace, you are representative of cat who was suppose to join us, so you and cat sure the year.'  
  
"Snake smiled and looked rather hatefully at rat. 'Cat is a good friend to us all, it was mean spiteful trick you played, rat.'  
  
"IT went on, the prizes were all rewarded and Firth smiled. 'This was a great race and I will tell you this, all of you are winners to me. Cat, I am sorry that rat tricked you, but he has gotten his punishment.'  
  
Chinsho smiled and looked at the others. "How was that tale from my home?"  
  
Silver nodded his head and smiled. "That is one of El-ahrairah's finest moments, but do you have other tales."  
  
Scratching his head with his back paw Chinsho nodded and then yawned. "Yes, but I am hungry now, I will tell my tales another time." 


End file.
